Trump Administration Won't List Pacific Walrus As Endangered

In this April 18, 2004, file photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific walrus cows and yearlings rest on ice in Alaska. The Trump administration will not add Pacific walrus to the threatened species list. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, that it can't say with certainty that walrus are likely to become endangered despite an extensive loss of Arctic sea ice due to global warming. (Joel Garlich-Miller/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP)

Listen

Listening...

/

Originally published on November 2, 2017 12:55 pm

The Trump administration has declined to list the Pacific walrus as endangered, a decision that at least one conservation group calls a “death sentence” for the species.

Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson talks with Chad Jay, who leads the walrus research program at the U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Science Center, about how climate change and melting sea ice are affecting Pacific walrus.